Not the Tasman: Kia Working On a New Truck Model for U.S. Buyers
We’ve known about the Kia Tasman pickup for a while now, but it was always assumed the truck wouldn’t be available to American buyers. While that’s still true, the automaker’s CEO recently confirmed that it was working on a pickup truck for the U.S., but it won’t be the Tasman.
At last week’s Seoul Mobility Show in South Korea, CEO Ho Sung Song told reporters that Kia was “studying” the idea and confirmed that the automaker would reveal more details at its annual Investor Day event on April 9. He noted that the Tasman isn’t destined for America, saying “We don’t develop that vehicle for the American market.”
“But in the meantime, we are now seriously studying how to get into the pickup truck market in the United States through a different model that is not the Tasman,” he continued. Rumors have pointed to a hybrid or electric pickup truck for the U.S. by the end of the decade, which would be built at Kia’s plant in Georgia.
Given the existing “chicken tax” and new tariffs, it’s not shocking to learn that Kia is working on a new truck for American buyers. All of the new trucks sold in the U.S. are built in North America to avoid the hefty pickup import taxes already in place, so Kia’s path to releasing a ute here will depend on local production and shared components with existing models.
[Images: Kia]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Another crew cab small box? Hard pass.
If they fix the front facia and all 4 fenders, they could sell the Tasman here. No sense in making it EV-only with the current administration, and even Scout found that a high amount of their units were pre-ordered with the range extender